Ah well, another year trundles into the sunset with a cheery wave. Whether you bid it a fond farewell or respond with two fingers is up to you. Here at Ballagroove’s secret hindquarters we’ll look back and say – “er, sorry, could you run that by me again?” It was a year of education and discovery, laughter and tears, fags and booze. Regardless, everyone here at Ballagroove would like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone there, wherever there is, hope you had a good one!
Our one regret is that the number of releases we’ve managed in our first proper year doesn’t really reflect the amount of work that everyone has put in, not just members of the Ballagroove collective but all the bands, musicians, DJ’s, artists, off-licence staff, movers, shakers & candlestickmakers that it’s been our pleasure to work with over the last year – our thanks go out to you all.
That said, it means we can really come out fighting this year, plenty projects in the pipeline including a number of releases planned for
early in the year. These include the debut albums from Stinging with Bigness and ‘Ingie (the incredible thingy)’, plus the debut mini-LP from Journeyman, all of which are sounding really good. January will also see the first release of our soon-to-be-a-regular-thing-honest “Black Label” series which will feature unreleased tracks/demos/remixes, etc. from Ballagroove bands. Later in the year will see the second album from Rhysical Pheck, the debut album from Cocahiba and all being well the debut album from The Scope.
When we get a chance to draw breath we will also be getting back to some live action again – an element that has been sadly lacking from our lives with so much else going on. There will be live gigs featuring Ballagroove bands, some small scale DJ nights and of course, the long awaited return of the Rock’n’RollSoul Crew for their Summer Special 2004.
So, a busy year ahead! All this from a shambolic bunch of hairy Southerners.
Get your name down onto our mailing list (goto the Contact page and subscribe your e-mail address) and we’ll make sure that you’ll be among the first to know about any new releases (many are limited edition) and you’ll get first shout on tickets to any live bashes we put on.
In the meantime, enjoy 2004, enjoy Ballagroove & thanks again for all your support. Best wishes!

From Mike Buttel – Manx Radio:

“The first half hour of DriveTime on 6-7PM Friday 17^th October is all local stuff: a track from Rhysical Pheck, Cocahiba, Truman Falls, Barry Nelson, and the live set & interview with Malaka.

We have just finished recording Barry and Val for broadcast next Friday, other sessions will include Paul Salisbury, Lux, and visiting singer Penelope Swales plus more.”

You can listen to it live on the internet via Manx Radio’s Internet Streaming Service (Windows Media Player only unfortunately).